Rural Affairs

England Rural Development Programme logo

2005 and beyond - how Defra will manage your current agri-environment agreement from 2005 onwards

With the introduction of Environmental Stewardship and the closure of the existing environmental management schemes to new applicants, you will want to know how Defra plans to deal with its existing and often very longstanding customers over the next few years. This page explains how we intend to deal with:

  • making changes to your agreement,
  • adding land to your agreement,
  • additional capital works/conservation plans, and
  • derogations.

This information has also been made available in an information note [Click to download Adobe Acrobat Reader] [109KB] that has been sent to all current agreement holders in the Countryside Stewardship, Environmentally Sensitive areas, Organic Farming and Habitat Schemes.

Environmental Stewardship will build on what has been learnt through existing agreements and hopefully agreement holders will wish to continue their involvement with improving the environment through the new scheme. Existing agreement holders will be able to continue to apply to Defra to make changes to their current agreement or apply for a derogation in the usual way. However, two criteria will apply:

  • as at present, we would need to make sure that any proposed changes represent good value for money, are of environmental benefit and are also consistent with national and regional priorities at the time; and
  • we will not be able to accept requests for amendments to agreements in the last 2 years of their life, other than as a result of unavoidable sale of land. This is because making an amendment so close to the end of an agreement is unlikely to accrue any real environmental benefits.

Your questions answered

Can existing agreement holders apply for amendments and ESA upgrades to their current agreement, where these become essential?

Yes. Existing agreement holders will be able to apply for an amendment, subject to the criteria mentioned above, at any time during the scheme year, and will not have to wait until claim time to do this.

[Back to top]

Can existing agreement holders add land to their current agreement?

Yes. Subject to the normal scheme rules about adding land (environmental value and maximum area etc), existing agreement holders will be able to apply to add land to their agreement at any time of the scheme year. But we will need to consider any such requests in the light of the criteria mentioned above.

‘Added land’ might be:

  • land within an existing holding boundary (as defined on the agreement map) that is not currently receiving agri-environment payments,
  • non-agreement land that the agreement holder has purchased, or
  • existing agreement land that has been purchased from another agreement holder. Where land has been bought which is entirely within an existing agreement, and the area of land is sufficient to be a viable agreement in its own right, the agreement holder may choose to continue with the agreement already in place on that land, rather than add it – by amendment – to the current agreement.

[Back to top]

Can an existing agreement holder add or remove capital items/apply for a new conservation plan?

Yes, subject to the criteria mentioned above. An existing agreement holder will be able to apply to add or remove capital items (CSS only) or apply for a conservation plan to carry out capital works (ESAs only) at any time during the scheme year.

[Back to top]

Can an existing agreement holder apply for a derogation?

Yes. An agreement holder will be able to apply for a derogation at any time during the scheme year.

Where the agreement holder wishes to apply to make a change to their current agreement, they should first contact their local Defra office or Defra RDS adviser who will be able to provide them with additional information and guidance.

[Back to top]

Can an existing agreement holder apply for Environmental Stewardship next year?

Environmental Stewardship is made up of three elements:

  • Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) - a ‘whole farm scheme’, open to all farmers and land managers. ELS aims to encourage a large number of farmers and land managers across wide areas of land to deliver simple, yet effective environmental management on their holdings.
  • Organic Entry Level Stewardship (OELS) – open to all organic farmers with land that is fully organic, or in conversion, or to farmers with a mix of conventional and organic land, and who are not currently receiving Organic Farming Scheme (OFS) conversion aid. (Agreement holders in an existing organic scheme, please see the further information below.)
  • Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) – aims to deliver significant environmental benefits in specific high priority situations and areas. HLS will concentrate on the more complex types of management where land managers need advice and support and where agreements need to be tailored to local circumstances. In all but a very few cases, existing agreement holders will have to apply for an ELS/OELS agreement when you apply for HLS.

Current agreement holders will be able to apply for ELS/OELS (as appropriate) on any land not currently receiving payment under an existing CSS/ESA/Habitat Scheme (HS) or OFS agreement.

However, it is not possible to combine HLS with either CSS, ESA, OFS or HS on the same holding as agreement holders will be required (subject to a very few limited exceptions) to enter the whole holding into ELS or OELS as part of their HLS agreement. Land parcels already receiving payments under existing schemes cannot also receive HLS payments, as we would be paying for the same thing twice!

[Back to top]

Can existing agreement holders transfer their current agreement into Environmental Stewardship?

Existing agreement holders will be expected to continue with their current agreement until it expires, at which point they will be offered the opportunity to apply for an Environmental Stewardship agreement. This applies to CSS, ESA, HS and also OFS conversion agreements up to the point at which conversion has been completed and the payment rate reduces to the maintenance level. OFS maintenance agreements will, however, be allowed to transfer into OELS. This is because the environmental conditions attached to OFS maintenance payments are generally less onerous than those for payments under ESA and CSS agreements and transfer to OELS represents an enhancement of what is being delivered.

[Back to top]

What if existing agreement holders have more than one agreement on their holding?

When their oldest agreement expires, we will normally invite existing agreement holders to terminate all their existing agreements and apply to enter all the land as appropriate into a new HLS agreement. If they choose instead to continue with their existing agreements, they will not however be able to enter HLS until all their agreements have expired. In the meantime, land ‘released’ as agreements expire may be entered into ELS/OELS.

Please note that land released as agreements expire cannot be added back into remaining agreements by amendment.

If you have any questions about the procedure to be followed, please discuss with your Defra office or Defra RDS adviser.

[Back to top]

If an existing agreement holder buys/acquires some new land, can they apply for Environmental Stewardship on this new land?

As explained above, if an existing agreement holder buys or acquires new land they would normally be expected to add this land to their existing agreement.

If they do not consider that this arrangement is appropriate for the new land, this should be discussed with their local Defra RDS adviser.

[Back to top]

OELS and whole farm ESA agreements

It will not be possible to have an OELS agreement on land which is subject to a whole farm ESA agreement – all land parcels will be under specific ESA management and there will be no other land for OELS options (to avoid paying for the same thing twice, land which is receiving ESA payments would not be eligible for OELS). Existing agreement holders would not therefore be able to convert any of this land to organic farming under OELS until their ESA agreement has expired.

However, if the agreement holder wishes to begin converting some of this land to organic farming now, they may apply to join the OFS conversion option before it closes in 2005 and is replaced by OELS.

Similarly, land in a whole farm ESA agreement which is already organic (but not in OFS) will not be able to enter OELS until the ESA agreement has expired. However, the agreement holder may consider applying to enter this land into the OFS maintenance option before it closes in 2005 and is replaced by the OELS. The environmental obligations attaching to OFS maintenance payments should not conflict with their existing ESA management requirements. It will not matter that the OFS and ESA agreements do not run concurrently as it will be possible to switch from OFS to an OELS agreement when the ESA agreement ends.

If you wish to join the Organic Farming Scheme, you should contact:

Defra Organic and Energy Crops National Implementation Team
Electra Way,
Crewe Business Park,
Crewe,
Cheshire,
CW1 6GJ

Telephone: 01270 754122
Email: organic-energy@defra.gsi.gov.uk

[Back to top]

Where can I find out more?

Further information for existing agreement holders interested in Environmental Stewardship is available on the Defra website, and in the relevant Environmental Stewardship scheme handbooks:

Page last modified: 17 August, 2005
Page published: 7 June, 2005

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs